Maryland casinos surge to new revenue record in March
Maryland’s six casinos set a new gaming revenue record in March, and even the struggling Horseshoe Casino Baltimore got in on the fun for a change.
Figures released by the Maryland Lottery & Gaming regulatory agency show statewide casino gaming revenue hitting $163.3m in March, an 8.8% rise over the same month last year and a 3.4% improvement on the state’s previous high-water mark of $158m set last October.
March’s improvement was entirely due to the casinos’ slot machines, which collectively reported revenue of $105.3m, nearly $13m higher than March 2018’s take. By comparison, last month’s table game revenue was up less than half-a-million to just under $58m.
Maryland Lottery & Gaming director Gordon Medenica said March’s record result was even more impressive given the “intense competition and expanding gaming options in surrounding states.” Maryland could have availed itself of some of those new gaming options but state legislators balked at joining the cool kids in other states by approving legal sports betting.
The month’s biggest gainer was Cordish Gaming’s Live! Casino & Hotel, which shot up 19% year-on-year to $56m. The Horseshoe, which has routinely underperformed following National Harbor’s December 2016 launch, reported revenue up 3% to $25.6m.
The state’s three smaller operators were also in positive territory, although Hollywood Casino Perryville barely qualified with revenue of $7.15m, a year-on-year gain of only 0.5%. Ocean Downs Casino shot up 12.4% to $6.6m while Rocky Gap Casino Resort rose 9.2% to $5.16m.